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No! I would never!..

kingcomrade

Another camera related problem is how the camera always centers back at the character whenever I prompt a command, either to move or to interact with objects/NPCs. Or rather, I dislike how this game implements it. I didn't necessarily dread the feature, since Arcanum has it. But in Arcanum, the camera instantly move to our character, instead of wasting my time slowly panning from where I give the command to where my character's currently at. I guess I have more tolerance for Arcanum because it runs much smoother on my laptop. I know this means I should be getting a new rig to finally play all these cool games that's out in recent times, but still.... is there any way to get rid of the camera centering on our character?

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Just unlock the camera by pressing home.

But the speed of the camera does indeed suck in the current version. I want it snappy like an RTS.

Overall the combat is very simple.
Depending on your build, you will approach the battle differently:
Currently, the meta favors automatic rifle too much because this weapon class is too versatile in all range. At point blank, it's capable of burst, and at a distance, it's capable of accurate damage at mid-range, assuming it's not a machine gun.

Semi-automatics Rifle does not have burst luxury. They tend to rely on critical damage and aimed shots take more AP to execute. They're efficient with ammunition but overall not as versatile as the automatics.

The pistol is at the lower end of the return - fast to raise the skill, cheap to acquire but somewhat weaker than both rifle on single shot and too small of a clip size compared to automatic burst. It's OK, just not amazing.

Melee is very one dimensional. You need a lot of points to unlock 'First Blood' to trigger automatic critical on the first melee hit and a high damage melee weapon to profit from this. From my experience, mid-game close combat weapons just don't cut it. You have to exploit the fact that a guaranteed critical to the head has a high chance to knock down a humanoid, this, in turn, will put their dodge chance at a negative. Switch to a burst pistol and unload. This will certainly do way more damage than any mid-game close combat weapon will.

Just as a note, but because there will be a successor to ATOM, or maybe something else.
The better system would be: the more movements you make, the more your dodge increase. Basically, if someone spend all its actions to run (sprint), he should be harder to hit than someone who stands still.
There is already a game doing this, but I forgot which one it is.
Maybe the Western/Horror/Demonic tactical game. Unsure. Or is it X-Com 2?? I think there is something like that in X-Com 2 for the swordman.

I just don't think the system as-is in ATOM is all that useful in any respect though. For example if you take a critical from an enemy and then his friends all take shots at you, without armor you'd basically just die. Even with armor you might die depending on how many there are. So with DR% you stand a much better chance at surviving and really if you're going to have a high DR (without the Praetorian perk) then you are basically just not dodging.

Movement contributing to dodge could help in the first turn maybe, but unfortunately the game isn't favorably disposed to movement either as most engagement are close and you are best off just shooting with your AP.
Going the full AoD route of having "dodger armor" would be the best route to go I'd think. But even then the system just isn't all that fleshed out enough. Does a high dodge number actually prevent mid-late game enemies from hitting you all that much? I'd guess the answer to that is no. Right now dodge is mostly an early game only mechanic.

Trying to figure out perks. Was considering the extra skill point perk but spending two perks to get there means that I won’t have the other seven perks I want until level 24.

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By the end I reached level 14 I went with child prodigy trait though. That considered I didn't really ever feel like I was short on skill points to ever justify spending perk points to gain a few more every level. I suppose in the end it really depends on how low your int is but to me it feels like spending two perks is never worth it even if you reach a fairly higher level by not taking child prodigy.

this game is amazing. the writing is just brilliant, it's unlike anything i have seen in western rpgs. i noticed that first at dan's assignment about the three brothers and the farmers, it was so touching. and the random encounter with the guy that hid "from the sky" - i'm not sure if any other game managed to evoke such terror with such simple means.
and i enjoy the gameplay so much that i'm actually afraid of finishing it; started 4 characters already.

"This dick is an amazing dick that has pleasured countless women. It's on a different scale of size, strength, and durability than your average loser's dick. It's truly a dick among dicks." -Rance, Ally of Justice.

I'm liking the game so far but now I get why I've read posts from people complaining about getting whipped in combat after the starter town. I'm almost level six. I can't kill anything. The mistake that I've made is that I've been investing in machine guns only for combat and putting most of my points in speech and other skills. My 3 Personality character was not really meant to be a talker only. But that is what he is because everything kills me. Even rats will gang up and take me down. Without being able to kill stuff, I'll never have the money to gear up. And without gearing up, I'll never be able to kill stuff.

Finally, it’s time for the big Update! We did a lot of work this time, and positive improvements have touched upon a lot of the game aspects. Playing ATOM is now genuinely more comfortable. The inventory management is easier, the interface in general is more intuitive, the follower mechanics have more options, the re-balancing of weapons made combat more dynamic and interesting, especially during the new random encounters.
And of course we added a lot of new NPCs, quests and maps for you to test all of the new features.

Here is a compact list of changes:

Quality of life improvements - your recommendations were heard and implemented in the new inventory and follower systems;
Improved English translation thanks to you, our players, and a wonderful writer Scott Hamm who worked on such titles as “Age of Decadence” and “Battle Brothers”;
Full mod support - we promised and we delivered;
Better balance and weapon stats;
Changes into the ability tree;

New weapons;

New AI features;

New follower settings including friendly fire settings;

New graphic effects;

New graphic elements (icons, portraits, items, in-game art);

New sounds for items and weapons;

New animations, including a special martial arts move you may learn;

New item with the ability to reset your stats and skills;

Dozens of new characters with unique dialogues, portraits and quests;

A quest line that can be tackled by joining any one of the two new factions;

New maps;

New random encounters;

Improved game stability;

Option to change the item highlight color;

New achievements;

Tons of bug fixes;

We really hope you enjoy playing this new version, and we’ll be eagerly awaiting your feedback.
Thank you… And let there be ATOM!

P.S.: We will write a comprehensive manual for mod makers in the near future. So stay tuned for that!

Atomboy I'm not following the thread on a regular basis so maybe you've already disclosed the figures - but how many copies did you sell? Is it enough to finance future ventures of your studio?

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Well, I'm no money guy, but people responsible for finances and planning are sure that after ATOM we'll have at the very least enough moneys to make a giant publicly available demo and kickstart the next project. Maybe even do the whole project on our budget if the sales won't dry up completely? Not likely! But would be cool.

I'm liking the game so far but now I get why I've read posts from people complaining about getting whipped in combat after the starter town. I'm almost level six. I can't kill anything. The mistake that I've made is that I've been investing in machine guns only for combat and putting most of my points in speech and other skills. My 3 Personality character was not really meant to be a talker only. But that is what he is because everything kills me. Even rats will gang up and take me down. Without being able to kill stuff, I'll never have the money to gear up. And without gearing up, I'll never be able to kill stuff.

A normal person would start over but I shall endeavor to persevere...

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Thanks man! But you're really missing out! So many useful people won't even talk to you! Still, might be fun to find ways around it!

this game is amazing. the writing is just brilliant, it's unlike anything i have seen in western rpgs. i noticed that first at dan's assignment about the three brothers and the farmers, it was so touching. and the random encounter with the guy that hid "from the sky" - i'm not sure if any other game managed to evoke such terror with such simple means.
and i enjoy the gameplay so much that i'm actually afraid of finishing it; started 4 characters already.

also felta bit sorry for killing jay bauman.

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Now when the dialogues are edited in the English version by Scott Hamm and an awesome codexer, I can even agree with this statement without sounding like an egomaniac! Thank you!